Fire-box for boilers.



No. 726,382. PATENTED APR. 28, 1903..

G. VANDERBILT.

FIRE BOX FOR BOILERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

vim/w ea 2 7 I @31 Meme/13,

THE uonms PETERS co. Pummmmc" WASHINGTON, n

illnrrnn Smarts CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Fl HE -BOX FOR BOILERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 726,882, dated April28, 1903.

Application filed June 12,1902. Serial No. 111,287- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CORNELIUS VANDER- BILT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Boxes for Boilers, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

In locomotive boilers having fire-boxes which are circular incross-section the fireboxes as heretofore constructed are sub stantiallycylindrical or have a greater diameter at the rear end than at theforward or tube-sheet end. It is usually desirable to have thefire-boxes as large as possible, and the boilershell is of necessitylarger than thefire-box, so that when the rear end of the fire-box is ofthe same diameter as the forward end the necessarily large diameter ofthe boiler-shell in heavy locomotives has made it necessary to locatethe reverse-lever behind the end of the boiler, thusnecessitating acorresponding increasein the length of the locomotive-frame. Anotherresult of the use of cylindrical fire-boxes of maximum diameter is thatif the level of the water in the boiler is low there is danger that therear end of the fire-box will be uncovered by water when the locomotiveis descendinga heavy grade. It is primarily the object of this inventionto overcome the difficulties above alluded to in the use in locomotivesof fire-boxes circular in cross-section by providing a firebox circularin cross-section and tapered, the diameter of the rear end beingsubstantially less than the diameter of the forward end, the fire-boxbeing at the same time corrugated transversely in order that it may havethe necessary strength without the use of staybolts. It will heunderstood, however, that tapered transversely-corrugated fire-boxes maybe advantageously employed in other than locomotive-boilers, and it istherefore not intended to restrict the invention to locomotive-boilersalone.

The invention will be more fully described hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view, partly in sideelevation and partly in outline ,of alocomotive equipped with a taperedcorrugated fire-box, the firebox and some other parts of the locomotivebeing shown by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a partial rear elevation of thelocomotive shown in Fig. l, the cab being partly broken out to show thestarting-bar.

The locomotive or other structure to which the invention is applied maybe of any suitable form or construction, except as hereinafterindicated. As represented in the accompanying drawings, the boiler mayhave a forward cylindrical portion a, an intermediate tapered section b,enlarging rearwardly, a cylindrical fire-box section 0 of maximumdiameter, and a tapered fire-box section d, diminishing rearwardly tothe boiler-head e. The boiler is shown as supported upon a suitableframe f, which also supports the usual cab g,inclosing the rear taperedsection (1. The reduced diameter of the rear end of the boiler leavessufficient space between the boiler and the side wall of the cab topermit the startinglever h to be placed alongside the boiler and to beconvenientlymanipulated, whereas in other heavy locomotives, in whichthe maximum diameter of the fire-box section of the boiler is continuedto the boiler-head, the starting-lever is necessarily placed far enoughbehind the boiler-head to permit it to be swung through its full are,thus necessitating a corresponding extension rearwardly of thelocomotive-frame.

The fire-box 'l, as clearly shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, iscorrugated transversely that it may have the necessarystren gth withoutthe use of a great number of stay-bolts and is circular incross-section, as indicated at k in Fig. 2, having its maximum diameterat its forward end and being tapered toward its rear end, having itsminimum diameter where it is secured to the boiler-head c, as at 7c. Thefirebox tube-sheet Z receives, as usual, the tubes, one of which isindicated at m, the forward ends of the tubes being supported, as usual,by the forward tube-sheetn. The tapered form of the fire-box permits thetube-sheet Z to be of maximum diameter to receive the maximum number oftubes, while it permits the rear end of the boiler-shell to be reducedin diameter, as before described, without sacrificing the necessaryspace between the firebox and the boiler-shell. Provision is thus madefor a sufficient volume of water about the fire-box under allconditions, it being particularly noted that when the locomotive isdescending a heavy grade there will be no danger that the rear end ofthe fire-box will be uncovered if the level of the water in the boileris low, as would be the case if the firebox were cylindrical, having atits rear end the necessary diameter of its forward end.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a boiler having arearwardly-tapered rear section, of a fire-box circular incross-section, corrugated transversely, and tapered from its forward endto its rear end, whereby when the boiler is in place a space will beformed between it and the'side of the cab for the starting-lever,substantially as described.

2. In a locomotive, the combination of a boiler having a tapered rearsection, a firebox circular in cross-section,corrugated transversely andtapered rearwardly, and a cab inclosing the tapered section of theboiler, a space for the starting-lever being thereby formed alongsidethe tapered section of the boiler and between the same and the side wallof the cab, substantially as described. I

This specification signed and witnessed this 20th day of May, A. D.1902.

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.

In presence of EDWIN O. FARLOW, LOUIS A. SHEPARD.

